before the attack raising new questions. good evening, everyone what happened here friday is a story of loss and salvation. these houses in downtown mayfield, kentucky are still standing but all uninhabitable. in each, there were residents holding on for dear life as everything around them was destroyed. stories of survival are fueling hope, even a the death toll in kentucky rises. we are learning from the governor that at least 74 are dead 109 still unaccounted for. we also know that friday s onslaught involved as many as 60 tornados tonight as crews try to erase the scars carrying away the rubble they re struggling to find comparisons to this level of destruction and human loss maybe the simplest way to put it is children will be telling their children and grandchildren about that awful day in december, 2021 our reporters are across the region to tell the stories. but we start here in mayfield tonight, it is hard to put into words. utter destruction, immense loss as far a
baby only a few months old. senior correspondent mike tobin leads us off. you have covered a lot of these storms for us, the tornadoes and aftermath. i heard you today on air say you have never seen anything like this. i have never seen a path of destruction this large, bret. usually what you see is a tornado that will bounce along and kind of short path this thing got a foot hold to the southwest of here and just drove like a lawn mower for 227 miles. and that is why you have the director of emergency management saying the recovery is not going to be a matter of weeks or months but years. heart break in the heartland as the long, hard recovery begins. it s just upsetting, you know, to know that s a town that you grew up in and everything you know as memories is all gone. survivors across five states pick up what is left after the deadly tornadoes left friday. a dog with a search and rescue team from missouri works against the odds that someone may be found alive in
devastate bid those historic tornadoes. tell us what you re seeing around you. reporter: it s really stunning here in mayfield. no matter how many places you have seen that have been hit by a tornado, it s just this really stretches out this entire town, you come over a hill from the highway, as i did early this morning, and it s shocking. when you first see it, just the level of devastation, the department of homeland security, and fema chiefs are in western kentucky, also assessing the damage. the storm moved from several states. more than 300 national guard troops searching for survivors there. in kentucky, the death toll is 65. the governor told me last hour, he unfortunately expects that number to climb. officials believe that the tornado that touchdown down here in mayfield was on the ground in the state continuously for at least 128 miles. here s the governor s last hour. we are used to tornadoes that rip off the roofs of our houses, and this one exploded every hou
president biden at a briefing announcing he will be traveling to kentucky wednesday. this administration has made it clear to every governor whatever they need when they need it, when they need it, make it known to me and we ll get it to them as rapidly, as rapidly as we can. we just learned osha is launching an investigation after a tornado destroyed an amazon warehouse in edwardsville, illinois, killing six people there. i m hallie jackson with you this afternoon in washington along with our nbc news team on the ground covering the aftermath of these storms. wendy wilfolk is in mayfield, kentucky, and wendy, let me start with you. you re in what seems to be the epicenter of these storms, and i know you ve talked with people who are devastated. they lost their homes, they lost people they love. reporter: indeed, hallie, good afternoon to you. i am struck by the people s resilience as they go through what they ve lost, which is their lives and their livelihoods. if you
real. we re all americans. we stand together as united states of america. and i say to all the victims, you re in our prayers. emergency crews searching for survivors. residents reeling from the scale of the disaster. it s stuff you see on tv. doesn t happen in your town until it happens in your town. announcer: this is cnn breaking news. i m pamela brown in mayfield, kentucky. the epicenter of the deadliest december day for tornadoes on record. at least 70 people are feared dead. there is so much heartbreak surrounding where i am right now. take a look. this is what remains of the candle factory here in town. levelled by a tornado. remarkably, 40 people in the wreckage but many missing. a miracle if anybody else found alive in it. end quote. more than 30 tornados raked across six states. meteorologists say one long track twister may have riffed a 250 mile swath of damage from arkansas to kaebt. that would be a record. winds ripped apart an amazon warehouse in western